


Stand Still and Sing to the Balconies

by wavewright62



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Don't make me try to sing it, Fluff, Humor, Multi, Operas, Post-Canon, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22556212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wavewright62/pseuds/wavewright62
Summary: 40-some years down the track, somebody thought it would be a good idea to stage an opera based on the Y90 expedition to Denmark.  A preview is staged for a prospective investor.
Relationships: Lalli Hotakainen & Kitty, Lalli Hotakainen & Onni Hotakainen & Tuuri Hotakainen, Mikkel Madsen & Sigrun Eide, Onni Hotakainen/Mikkel Madsen, Reynir Árnason/Onni Hotakainen, Tuuri Hotakainen/Sigrun Eide
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ilthit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilthit/gifts).



> Disclaimer: The author regrets that there is no libretto available in Icelandic, and for that matter makes no warranty that any of these so-called lyrics would scan in Icelandic. The reader is left to imagine vocal flourishes filling in those lines where the meter seems off.  
> Truly, they're fabulous. Totally. Sublime vocal flourishes. Rippling arpeggios, thrilling high notes, the works.  
> *nods*
> 
> I also apologise for the clunky indenting, as I could not figure out an appropriate custom skin in time.

The director turned his back to the stage. “Welcome, welcome!,” his eyes roamed around the darkened room trying to spot the lone unseen person comprising the audience. “We are so glad you could come all this way today. We are _delighted_ to present some excerpts that we’ve been working on for this new production.” Receiving no answer, he sucked on his lower lip for a moment, making his elaborately waxed moustache quiver. “Opera is, as you will _well know,_ an art only newly rediscovered among the wreckage of the old world. The scores that were _so fortuitously_ recovered in the expedition of Year 124 were of _immense_ assistance, and we thank you for making that possible.”

“Hmph.” The person could be heard sighing and the seat creaked.

“Yes. Yes,” the director wrung his hands, “the, ahhh, yes, hmmm, we have been making glorious inroads at writing new operas of our _own._ The subject will be close to your heart, I know – the first Madsen Journey of Year 90.” He wasn’t quite certain whether the sudden sound of air escaping was a chuckle or a fart, and decided that ignoring it was probably the best course. Smiling ingratiatingly in the general direction of the creaking seat, he cleared his throat before continuing. “Haha, yes. Unfortunately, our plans to write this opera in one of the _classical_ languages of Italiskaya or Germanyische has come to naught, but I believe you will find it lovely, as well as more _comprehensible_ even, in Icelandic. And, _of course,_ I’m sure _you_ will be pleased to note that we have kept the mage-songs, the ahhh, _runo,_ in Finnish, as they should be.”

After an eternal moment, he briskly turned to face his cast waiting on the stage. “All right, everyone, let’s get a start. Onni, we start with you!” The cast rattled the pages of their librettos but no one answered. The director hissed, “Johan, that’s you.”

“Oh! Yes, ummm,” one of the cast stepped forward and addressed the dark, “Hello, I am going to be playing Onni Hotakainen? And the opera starts with me, and with Tuuri and Lalli Hotakainen, arriving in Keuruu, that’s how you say it, right? In Keuruu. Hmm.” He adjusted his stance to prepare, as two other singers flanked him, and the piano played the introductory bars.

 **Onni:** Behold the walls of thou Keuruu  
..........Safety may we find there.  
..........Leave the danger in the forest  
..........As well as our hearts

 **Tuuri:** Alas alas o our mothers  
..........Our fathers, all are gone  
..........Footsore am I and tired of mushrooms  
..........I long to leave this mask behind

 **Lalli:** Too many whispers  
..........The screams of the trapped ones  
..........My knife I hold ready  
..........And listen, as I was taught

 **Three:** Childhood innocence  
..........Left behind  
..........Just we, just we, Just we  
..........Are all that go forward now.

The director rose from his seat and beamed. “Now, there may be more to that, and then the overture of course, but for right now, we will jump right to the first scene.”


	2. Act I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, in my head I hear:  
> Tuuri - coloratura soprano  
> Taru - soprano  
> Sigrun - contralto  
> Reynir - alto  
> Lalli - contratenor  
> Onni - baritone  
> Emil, Trond - tenor  
> Mikkel - Basso

Scene 1 – Keuruu dock, pre-dawn – enter Tuuri and Onni

 **Tuuri:** He’ll be here, he’ll be here  
**Onni:** Nonsense, this whole adventure  
......You’re children! Still children,  
......Let the boat leave without you.

 **Taru:** The offer still stands, for you to go  
......Your skills they can use for glory  
**Onni:** No! Your plans are abysmal  
......Only idiots would comply  
**Tuuri:** No idiot I! How dare you say  
......That I am not fit  
......I’ve longed for this day!  
......It is my dream, Onni.

 **Taru:** We still need Lalli,  
......The boat needs to go.  
**Tuuri:** He’ll be here, I know  
......I left him a message on his cabin door  
**Onni:** I forbid you, it’s madness  
......Captain! Away you go  
......And take Taru Hollola with you!

 _Enter_ **Lalli:** Tuuri! You left a note  
......To meet you here upon the quay  
......But not why  
**Tuuri:** I told you he would come!  
......Here, here is your new boss  
......Wise Taru Hollola.  
......Lalli, adventure awaits!  
......Let’s go!  
**Taru:** Let’s go!  
**Capt:** Let’s go!  
**Onni:** Don’t go!  
**Lalli:** Go where?  
_(Taru, Tuuri & Lalli exeunt)_  
**Onni:** Don’t leave me, don’t leave me _(repeat and fade)_

\----  
Scene: Øresund Base, Mikkel Madsen

 **Mikkel:** Once more in Øresund I stand  
......Not my first time, will it be the last?  
......Always plagued by fools and officers  
......Which are much the same to me, I confess.

......What fools must I suffer this time?  
......What dolts, what knaves, what callow puddles  
......of brainless humourless porridge must I serve,  
......duller than my milk cows?

 _(enter Trond and Sigrun, Sigrun wearing a helmet with horns)_  
**Trond:** There, you see, there he is  
......Behold - _Mikkel Madsen!_  
......Though captain you may be in Norge  
......you’ll find that he Is worthy to lead.

 **Sigrun:** What a fine figure of a man!  
......Well met, Mikkel Madsen!  
......I’ve need of a man both brave and bold  
......To lead us through Denmark and back.

 **Mikkel:** I’m told you are a captain brave  
......Spending your summers the trolls to slay  
**Sigrun:** That’s right, good sir, and now I crave  
......Long winter nights spent the same way!  
_(eyes Mikkel up and down and smirks)_  
......Mostly.  
  
_Enter Taru, Siv, and Torbjörn, followed by Tuuri, Emil, Lalli_  
**Tuuri:** Eeeeeeeeeee..... _(keeps up soprano trilling behind verse)_  
**Taru:** Here we are in Øresund!  
......The frontier of the Known World  
......Glad I am to be here, heeeere!  
......Let us meet the rest of your team!  
  
_(All shake hands and pretend to talk as Mikkel steps forward alone)_  
**Mikkel:** What fools must I suffer this time?  
......What dolts, what knaves, what callow puddles  
......of brainless humourless porridge must I lead?  
......Still, _(shrugs)_  
......'tis better than milking the cows!

As the piano thumped the last note, the singer playing Tuuri caught herself trilling alone for a moment, before leaving off abruptly with a strangled flat note and an abashed expression.

  
\--  
Shanty scene - Túnfískurinn, featuring Captain Ása Harðardóttir and her crew of Jolly Sailor Boys  
**Ása:** Sailing on across the waves  
**Sailor boys:** ho my boys the windward go  
**Á:** The tuna we catch, the life for me  
**SB:** draw the sail my lady  
**Á:** Cold the wind, but I don’t mind  
**SB:** ho my boys the windward go  
**Á:** The more she blows, the more I knit  
**SB:** draw the sail my lady

 **Chorus:** Roll, roll, the windward go  
......Roll the nets all full now  
......Roll, roll, long to go  
......Draw the sail my lady

 **Ása:** But ho! New course! To Denmark go!  
**SB:** ho my boys the windward go  
**Á:** That terrible Trond, I'll fix him!  
**SB:** That scheming mountain monkey  
**Á:** Two crates! That's all, with such supplies  
**SB:** ho my boys the windward go  
**Á:** I hope they choke on Trond's foul lies!  
**SB:** draw the sail my lady

**Chorus**

Mikkel & Reynir on one side of stage, in Tank, Onni on the other, at HQ  
**Onni:** Who is there? Are you alive? Please answer me!  
**Tuuri:** Oh my brother! Yon mother hen!  
......I am not ready for him.  
......Tell him, please tell him, I come anon.  
**Mikkel** _(radio):_ Hello! I say, and how are you?  
**O:** Where is my sister?  
**M:** For I am Mikkel Madsen, sir, and how are you?  
**O:** I care not for you, where is my sister?  
**M:** Soooo you must be Onni, Onni Hotakainen!  
......Crewmates were we to have been  
......But spurned were we, alas a-day,  
......Though glad am I to hear you now.  
**O:** Yes yes, but Tuuri? Call her hence!  
**Reynir:** Whose voice? Whose voice? _(tries to grab mic but Mikkel moves it away from him. Mikkel manages to keep it beyond his reach as he sings)_  
**M:** So, fair sir, if fair you be  
......As fair as your sister, your sister fair…  
**O:** Please put her on, tease me not  
**R:** It is he! It is he!  
......The one I saw,  
......as in a dream, a prophetic dream  
**M:** I’m told you sing, a little bit  
......Call you the cows, with your fine voice?  
**O:** Cows! You craven, get you gone,  
......Now bring my sister out forthwith!  
**R:** Strong he is, with eyes afire  
......Yet tender with concern for Tuuri  
**O:** You! And you! You plague me sore  
......My journey to hear her voice again  
......Thwarted by your antics.  
**M:** I am accused!  
......I am bemused  
......But you refuse  
......To be my amoureuse?  
**R:** _(to Mikkel)_ You?! Not fit to kiss his shoe!  
**O:** What?! That I would not attempt to do!  
**M:** I am powerless to stop you,.  
......If kissing is what you long to do  
**M:** mmmDOOOO _(holds bass note)_  
**O:** _(holds middle harmony)_ Youuuu!  
**R:** _(holds high note)_ YOU! _(descant)_ Not you, not you, not you, he cannot want you _(holds note)_  
**O:** _(descant):_ Tuuri oh Tuuri wherever are you _(holds note)_  
**M:** _(descending basso)_ I could fall for you _(holds note)_  
**Three:** So far away now,  
......What are we to, doooo.  



	3. Act II

Lalli prances in darkened cityscape, Kitty follows  
  
**Lalli:** Don't follow me, don't follow me  
You're too small to scout  
I need to keep  
my wits about  
me...me...me  
What's that? _(stops & listens)_  
_(to Kitty)_ Hssst! Shoo!

 _(resumes prancing, Kitty behind him echoing his moves)_ Where'er I go  
I hear them all  
I know you hear them too.  
I mark them all  
to keep them all  
away from the crew!

\---  
Amelienborg Palace, Mikkel, Reynir, Tuuri and Sigrun

 **Sigrun:** Truly Denmark is glorious  
......Norway boasts none this gracious.  
**Tuuri:** Neither Finland!  
......I love to imagine the Old World  
......and wonder who could have lived here!

 **Reynir:** There's somebody there  
......Right there! Just beyond my sight!  
......Do you not see?  
**Sigrun:** I see only a crazy one.  
**R:** Go and see!  
**Mikkel:** _(hand on calm Kitty's shoulder)_ No trolls here  
......I will go inside.  
......This was once a palace,  
......'tis dear to my Danish pride.  
**R:** But - ghosts!  
**T:** He says he sees ghosts?  
**S:** Then he can show us the way. Come on!  


\------ 

Kastrup fortet, Mikkel solo  
**Mikkel:** Here among the ruins  
......I breathe the air,  
......I have longed for this day!  
......O brave, brave Denmark.  
......Only the Rash, the hated Rash  
......could lay her so low.

 _(holds aloft a box)_  
......Amidst these ruins, into the light  
......I bring these secrets!  
......Too long have they lain here.  
......Dust, dust.

......I see before me  
......the day that will come when once again  
......Denmark will be the world's jewel!  
......Denmark! O Denmark!

\----  
Tank, night, Mikkel, Sigrun, Emil and Lalli armed and waiting

 **Mikkel:** Night comes, trolls are nigh  
......Time to be brave, o my comrades,  
......though we are but few.  
**Sigrun:** May we meet again  
......in Valhalla's halls.

 **Lalli:** They come.  
**Emil:** They come.  
_(The Company forms a ring around the Tank)_  
**Trolls:** We come!

The director waved his hands as he stood. "All right, everyone, good, good! Now, madame, the second act will end with a big fight scene, yes? This will be all choreographed, and we are working out how to make Emil's fireball without making a haha, _real_ fireball on stage! And then, as you know, the trolls pull out Tuuri and Reynir from the Tank, lights out before we see who they strike, then that will be the end of the act." The moustaches quivered as he rubbed his hands together. "Places, everyone! Act III!"


	4. Act III

\----  
Scene 1: Reynir in dreamspace

 **Reynir** _(recitative)_  
I will find you  
Under the stars above I will find you  
Across the waters below I will find you.  
  
Anne, I will find you  
I hear your counsel,  
But I trust you, please  
Guide me now to peace.  
  
And, Onni  
I will find you  
Under the ice…  
no  
You are meant to soar  
Yours is the sky

\-----

Tank, with barrier dividing the stage - Tuuri and Sigrun on one side, Reynir and Mikkel on the other

**Reynir:** When will we know?  
**Tuuri:** When will we know?  
**Sigrun:** When will we know?  
**Three:** When will we know?  
......How long do we have?

**T:** Maybe,  
**S:** Just maybe,  
**T:** We got it in time,  
......and only the memory  
......will trouble me?  


**Mikkel:** We've done what we can  
......and now we wait.  
......Apart you must stay  
......for at least two weeks.  
**R:** Two weeks!  
**S:** Two weeks!  
**T:** Two weeks!  
**S:** An eternity!  
**T:** Eternity?  
......The Swan will keep me for eternity.  
......My mother, my father, all my village  
......lay with her in far Tuonela.  
......Must I join them?  
......Not now, now that I have... _(breaks off and looks away)_  


_(enter Emil and Lalli, on Reynir's side of the Tank)_  
**Lalli:** We will go ahead  
......and ensure no trolls are afoot.  
**Emil:** Every troll I will lay low  
......follow the burning trail we leave behind!  
......Only the blaze in my heart,  
......for you, has more heat!  
**L:** Do not talk so!  
......Lest the spirits of this land be jealous  
......and seek your heat for themselves!

\-----

Forest - Mikkel, Sigrun, Kitty & Tuuri, followed by Reynir

 **Reynir:** Onni, where are you?  
......Every night I seek you in my dreams  
......I need you, that is to say,  
......I need your guidance, you know!  
_(taps Tuuri on the shoulder, she draws away, clutching her mask)_  
......Do you think Onni your brother  
......would know where we should go?  
......Those ghosts persue us still.  
**Tuuri:** No!  
......You must not tell him!  
......Promise me you will not tell him!  
......He would worry so.  
......Let me tell him, let me tell him.  
......Once we know, once we know.  
**R:** I have seen an ancient lady  
......in an old church, somewhere near?  
......I went with Onni, we spoke to her,  
**T:** Yes, a dream, only a dream.  
......My brother has never been here.  
**R:** You must believe me!  
......I have seen her.  
......I will find her.  
......I must help her.

 **Mikkel:** You must rest! You are still ill.  
**Sigrun:** I can go on, worry not,  
**M:** Look, see there  
......in that clearing, a church!  
......There we shall rest, and make our beds  
......for the long night in its shelter.  
**R:** Look, see there  
......in that clearing, a church!  
......The very one I seek!  
......Truly Mikkel leads us well  
......for Fortune to favour us so!

\----  
Ruined church interior: Reynir, Mikkel, Sigrun, Tuuri, Kitty

 **Reynir:** Look! This is the place I have seen  
.....that I told you about, me and Onni!  
......I know we will find what we seek  
......here.  
**Sigrun:** I hope you seek old dead people.  
_(Kitty avoids Tuuri, then looks up, Mikkel follows her gaze)_  
**Mikkel:** I believe that troll must be dead too.  
**Tuuri:** They came here to die!  
......They all came here to die.  
......Like me.  
  
**Sigrun:** No! _(steps to front for solo)_ ......Never give up hope.  
......As long as there is breath in you  
......As long as there is sight in your bright eyes  
......As long as your heart still beats  
......Do not give up on me.  
......On us! On life...  
  
......I have found what I never knew  
......was missing.  
......The sheen in your eyes pale  
......and brighter than a shooting star  
......on a summer twilight.  
  
_(Tuuri steps forward beside Sigrun)_  
**Tuuri:** I have found what I sought outside  
......closed walls of safety.  
......The sheen in your eyes sharp  
......a flashing blade that opens the world  
......unfolding like a flower.  
**Duet:** The world is new under your gaze  
......I see myself reflected there.  
**S:** Do not give up on life!  
  
_(Crew pantomimes sleeping)_  
\------  
  
Town ruins, Lalli and Emil holds hands as they enter  
**Emil:** I think we're lost  
**Lalli:** We're not lost  
**E:** I think we're lost  
**L:** We're not lost  
**E:** I think we're lost  
**L:** We're not lost  
**E:** I think we're lost  
**L:** I _know_ where we are!  
**E:** Where?  
**L:** A weird, scary foreign country.  
  
**E:** I think we're lost  
**L:** _We're! not! lost!_  
  
**E:** I think we're being followed  
**L:** We're not lost  
......Wait, you're right.  
......I have seen these before.  
......We call them dusklings,  
......their covering protects them  
......from the cleansing sun.  
......Do not listen to them!  
**Dusklings:** _(begin chanting softly)_ Food, food...  
**E:** We're lost and trolls are chasing us  
**L:** We're not lost.  
  
\------  
  
Dreamspace, Reynir "wakes up", enter Anne  
**Reynir:** I knew I would find you,  
......am I too late?  
**Anne:** Time has no meaning here.  
**R:** But, time is what we don't have.  
......Ghosts are following us,  
......so many ghosts! Oh!  
......They want to kill us, kill us all!  
**A:** Vanquish! _(pulls sword out of scabbard and holds it aloft)_  
......I will vanquish them all!  
......My duty to Denmark will be complete  
......and I will be unbound.  
......Bring them forth!  
  
**R:** Wait, I must ask a boon  
......for Tuuri.  
_(Tuuri rises, still 'sleeping', turns slowly around)_  
**T:** Aaahhhh... _(sings softly behind R & A)_  
**R:** Tuuri, Tuuri,  
......may have taken the Rash.  
**A:** If she is Rashed,  
......then she, too, must die.  
......Swift will I make her end,  
......she will feel no pain.  
**R:** No! No!  
......Can she not  
......be cleansed of this taint?  
**A:** If healing was mine  
......all Denmark would be free.  
......Tuuri, I pity thee.  
_(Enter Ghosts)_  
......Are you ready to go forth?  
......Go! Be free!  
_(Ghosts join hands in circle around Reynir, Anne, and Tuuri, walk around the circle)_  
**T:** Aaahhhh... _(still asleep, sings louder)_  
**R:** Ohh... _(harmony with Tuuri)_  
_(Ghosts speed up around the circle, Anne brandishes sword, Tuuri carries on singing)_  
_(Enter Onni, paces around the outside of the circle, looking for a way in)_  
**Onni:** Tuuri!  
......Tuuri! What have you done?!  
**R:** Onni!  
......I have longed for you  
......and now you come!  
**O:** I cannot lose you  
......I cannot lose you!  
_(Onni grabs two ghost hands and breaks them apart, ghost heads offstage, joined hands ghosts follow, Onni rushes to join Reynir and sleeping Tuuri in the center)_  
**A:** We go! Forward!  
_(Anne takes last ghost hand and follows, drops sword and grabs Tuuri's hand and tows her along as well, Tuuri carries on singing)_  
**R:** Tuuri! No, do not take her! _(Reynir grabs Tuuri's other hand and resists pull)_  
**A:** Very well!  
_(breaks handhold and picks up sword, Reynir steps back, Reynir and Onni catch off-balance Tuuri)_  
**T:** Ahhh-AAA! _(Tuuri opens eyes just in time to see Anne's sword raised over her, Onni holds up arm to protect her, Tuuri screams as blade comes down)_  
_(Tuuri falls, pulls Reynir and Onni down with her, Anne rejoins the line of ghosts going offstage, still waving the sword, Onni keeps rolling offstage)_  
**A:** _(offstage)_ Farewell! Farewell!  
  
Church interior, Kitty stands in ready pose, Tuuri & Reynir are sitting up, Mikkel & Sigrun sit up as well  
**Sigrun:** What in the name of all the gods  
......was that terrible crash!  
**Mikkel:** How is it that we are safe?  
......What lightning hit this place?  
**S:** Lightning? Mighty Odin?  
......struck us here? And yet  
......I am alive, and so are you.  
**M:** Yes, I believe I am.  
**Reynir:** Onni! Oh Onni!  
......Tuuri...  
**Tuuri:** I am alive, too.  
......But the dream?  
......I thought I saw Onni?  
**R:** I think,  
......I think the ghosts are gone.  
**S:** A marvel!  
......Odin smote them!  
_(Kitty sits next to Tuuri and cuddles up to her)_  
**T:** I feel...  
......I feel... _(feels her shoulder, then stands up, Kitty stands up too)_  
......I feel whole?  
......Can it be, that I am healed?  
**S:** Healed? _(stands up and takes Tuuri's hands)_  
**T:** Healed!  
**M:** Healed? _(stands up)_  
**T:** Healed!  
**R:** Healed? _(stands up, looks around)_  
......Onni was there.  
**M:** Onni.  
......You dreamt of Onni?  
**R:** More than a dream.  
......So strong, was he. _(Mikkel looks affronted)_  
**T:** Yes, I had this dream, too.  
......You were there, so was Onni.  
......What magic? What magic did you do?  
**S:** What magic? What magic did you do?  
  
\-------------  
  
Ruined dock, Mikkel solo  
**Mikkel:** We have come so far  
......through strife, through peril  
......to this point, now to wait.  
......Oh, Denmark! I leave your shores  
......but know, that I shall return!  
......We shall all return.  
  
_(far-off chant offstage)_  
**Dusklings:** Food, food...  
_Enter Emil & Lalli, running_  
**Emil:** Look, Lalli! They are here!  
......Save us, Mikkel!  
......Save us, Sigrun!  
**Lalli:** I told you we weren't lost.  
_(Enter Dusklings)_  
**D:** Fo0D, foOd...  
**M:** You are alive? How can this be?!  
......But what peril do you bring?  
**D:** _(louder)_ Fo0D, foOd...  
_(Enter Sigrun, exeunt Emil & Lalli)_  
**Sigrun:** Into the fray!  
......Test my blade,  
......one last time,  
......leave these trolls to us!  
**M:** Leave these trolls to us!  
**D:** Don't kill us, foOd!  
_(Mikkel and Sigrun pantomime cutting through the Dusklings, they leave the stage screaming, Sigrun follows them off waving her sword)_  
  
**Mikkel:** We have come so far  
......through strife, through peril.  
......Oh, Denmark! I leave your shores  
......but know, that I shall return!  
......We shall all return.  
......We shall all return. _(holds high note)_  
  



	5. It Ain't Over Until....

“Hmph.” The players peered into the dark. The director bowed to the back of the auditorium, a supercilious smile creeping under his moustache. A voice cracked from the shadows in accented Icelandic, “But that's not what happened."  
  
"Ah, madame," the director spread his hands, "that is, yes. The source material was somewhat vague on several points. And, well," he winced, "a tragedy would be too similar to last year's production of 'Stine and Pedersen'. This is meant to be a _light_ opera, and not...a history lesson."  
  
"I see. Hrm. All right then, but why is Reynir being played by a woman?”  


The composer cleared their throat, holding up a hand to signal that they would answer. “Yes, well, there has been discussion among the historians that ‘Reynir’ was in fact a woman, who ran away to forge a new identity as a man. It brings a certain tension to the role when he-”

“Yes, I’ve heard of that ‘theory’. But did they think to ask anyone who’d actually met him?”

“With all due respect, it was expedition leader Mikkel Madsen _himself_ who presented the information.”

A hoarse laugh echoed. “That explains it. As you say, it’s not a history lesson." The seat creaked as the woman shifted. "Never mind, I’ve heard enough. I’ll fund it.”

The moustaches turned upward. “Yes, madame, surely, madame, that is wonderful news. I will-"

“See to it that you fix the Finnish pronunciation for the runo, they are awful. I’m not expert but I’m fairly certain you had Lalli call upon the moon to be a whore for a town full of trolls. I’m glad Onni won’t hear it.” The singer playing Lalli shifted his posture and bit his lip. “And, you will cut Mikkel’s finale."

“Madame?”

“It’s terrible.” The singer playing Mikkel scowled and put his hands on his hips.

“But, ahhh, madame, I don’t understand,” he wrung his hands, “He is _Mikkel Madsen,_ he is the hero! He, he, he is _Denmark!_ ” The director’s moustaches quivered, and the singer playing Mikkel looked down his nose from his full height.

“Hmph. Yes, yes, Denmark. No help for _that.”_

“Perhaps, a change to it? What would madame suggest?”

“He already had his big song, he doesn’t need another. And don’t call me ‘madame’. I’m not French, and neither are you.” The moustaches bristled, but she continued, “Pår?” At the sound of his name, the startled assistant practically leapt forward. “Let’s hear the piece I commissioned for the finale.”

The young man hurriedly opened his satchel and procured a score, not meeting the burning gaze of the director. As he quickly briefed the pianist, the players shuffled their feet, looking at one another to see who would sing the mystery piece.

From the back of the stage, a singer cleared her throat and stepped to the front. She looked apologetically at her colleague playing Mikkel, who glared at her but did not yield the central point. As the piano played the introductory bars, she drew herself up to her full height and pointedly stepped in front of him, her toes at the very edge of the stage. She filled her lungs in preparation, ignoring the stares the company directed at her back.

 **Taru:** The boat bore them away at last  
......Their journey done, their fame secured  
......Written upon the page of history.

......We know their names forevermore  
......Their path now marked for all to see  
......Where the old world gave them none.

......Hear, O nations! Give them laud!  
......Shunned thy acclaim  
......They pass’d to history.

Enthusiastic clapping erupted from the back of the auditorium. The owner of the voice stepped down the aisle. She was a large woman, her iron-grey hair with a severe fringe cut to chin length. Her steps were slow but not unsteady. Her clapping hands were encased in fine leather gloves, marking her as part of the generations that had grown up in the shadow of the Rash. Her face creased as she smiled upon the singer. Turning to the director, Taru Hollola beamed, “Yes, that will do. _Now,_ it’s over.”

**Author's Note:**

> *listens for applause, hopefully* Surely this would all be better with staging, and costumes, and ahhh, _actual music._ At least, your humble author certainly hopes so.  
> I also hope you will indulge me by looking at this opera like a Chocolate Box (to coin a phrase), where some of the pieces may not be all exacty to your liking, but you can enjoy a moment of pleasure, and maybe keep the pretty box to put things in later. That is, if you or anybody wants to make a real opera or musical score along these lines, please do.


End file.
